Germany’s second-biggest lender, Commerzbank, says it will no longer participate in market speculation on basic food prices. The bank says it has removed all agricultural products from its funds for moral reasons.

Commerzbank of Germany confirmed on Thursday it had withdrawn from market speculation on prices for basic food items. The country’s second-largest lender said it had removed all agriculture products from its ComStage ETF CB Commodity fund.

Commerzbank stated that the move came in response to a series of international studies claiming that similar agricultural funds had played no small role in artificially pushing up food prices, contributing to widespread hunger in many parts of the world.

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A major bank just giving up a huge market segment based on “moral” grounds? They see something coming.

Germany’s Second Largest Bank, Fears ‘Collapse Of The Monetary Union’

The bank, which is 25 percent owned by the German state, said it would restructure its retail business and continue to clear out toxic assets in response to sliding profits.

The bank’s second-quarter group net profit dropped to 275 million euros ($340 million), missing analysts’ forecasts of 388 million as retail and investment banking revenues slumped and provisions for bad shipping loans spiked. It warned that second-half profits would be lower still.

“The greatest downside risk remains an uncertainty shock from an escalation of the sovereign debt crisis – i.e. the collapse of the monetary union,” Commerzbank said in its quarterly report, adding it thought that risk was higher now than in autumn last year.